Transformational learning towards sustainability in higher education requires profound changes in learning methodologies, learning spaces and applied tools and practices. Urgent sustainability challenges like the decarbonization of society, maintaining human activities within the biospheric limits regarding resource consumption, or environmental and social justice, require transformations in our way of living, our political, technological, and socioeconomic systems.

Real-world related, collective and experience-based approaches have been shown to be powerful in this context, as learning on sustainability is not limited to the acquisition of specific knowledge, but rather needs a radical shift of focus, which must be based on a transdisciplinary and holistic view on the related challenges. Collective value discussion and action as well as real experiences of behavioural change is needed for this transformative learning approach. Concepts like “unlearning” are linked to the need to get out of routines to experience new habits and new ways of doing things. All these processes need time and places to be implemented, experienced and optimized in order to be fully effective in educational environments.

In the field of architecture, transformative learning can happen for example through the construction, use and exploration of prototypes of sustainable architecture as living labs, engaging in real sustainable construction works, and reflecting collectively on these processes, understanding the local, regional and global impact of the construction sector.

At the Valles School of Architecture (ETSAV), living labs play a major role as instruments allowing the introduction of new pedagogical approaches in the education of architecture students through designing, building and operating experimental sustainable housing prototypes. The development of these living labs has been linked to the Solar Decathlon Europe (SDE) Competition, an international competition of universities for energy self-sufficient solar houses.

The LOW3 Living Lab at ETSAV, based on the first prototype built by UPC, provides this type of transformative learning experience to local and international students since 2012 focusing on the three topics of Housing, Energy and Lifestyle. Results of educational research on its methodologies and impact confirm the positive contribution in the field of transformative sustainability education.

Keywords: Transformative learning, living labs, sustainability education, build-learn approach, architecture, decarbonization.